Natural Dye Plants
Walnuts
In our coffee breaks, Fleur, our border colley and I go walnut-hunting in the garden and surrounding meadows. This is the time of year that the slowly ripening nuts fall one by one from the already yellowing trees. Leav... more
Colourful Sorghum
Sorghum was one of the dye plants I grew last year. It grew very well on our dry southern slope. One night the wild boar came to invest it and pulled some down.... more
Sunflowers
Sunflowers have been used for centuries, if not millennium by the Hopi Indians to dye a range of reds, purples and blues. This summer has been especially good for growing sunflowers anywhere in Europe.... more
Woad
This is a single woad plant ( pastel in French) flowering in my garden here in the Ariege. Strange is it not that a plant that dyes so blue should have such yellow flowers? I have removed nearly all the other plants as... more
Madder Plants
This madder is only a few months old, in 2-3 years it will have covered all the ground and the roots will be ready to harvest that Autumn.... more